When you learn dance, it is likely for only one or two reasons. Usually it is for fun. You might have seen it for a while and wanted to do it yourself. Or maybe it was simply because you thought you needed a hobby and dance seemed as good as any other. However, there can be other benefits that you never expected.

Love lifeWhen you can dance you have an automatic mechanism to meet people of the opposite (or even the same) sex. That can by default lead to romance. This can especially be so for men. One Destine Dance student recently told me about how he was at a bar where there was music playing that he could dance to (he liked Lindy Hop and the bar was playing classic rock that suited) and a woman randomly happened to ask if he could dance. He then dished out a quick dance lesson to a couple women and had others asking to dance with him. While this culminated in one woman asking to go back to his place, he did the gentlemanly thing and declined because she had had a bit too much to drink. Nevertheless, this is anecdote shows how dance can indeed boost your love live. But you need not be for singles only.

Better social lifeWhen you can dance, you now have something else you can do when going out. This can be ideal for couples. Sometimes you can be stuck at home doing the same thing and not knowing what to do. There are always dance events on somewhere. You can always go out dancing. This can help with any relationship that needs something extra to it. This benefit is applicable to singles too of course. I have used dance as a way to connect with people when travelling. Dance is fairly harmonised these days so what you learn here you can use around the globe. Whenever I land in a new place, I find the local dance event, I go there and then I am instantly meeting new people.

You seem more sophisticatedThe fact is that we assume people who can dance are just that bit more sophisticated. When you go to a wedding or similar event with a dance floor - or maybe even when you are just out with people and there happens to be a dance floor - you're able to make use of it. These days that is a rarity. When you have that rare skill you just stand out as being more sophisticated.

You grow (physically that is)It only takes a few lessons before your teacher will start talking about posture. The act of maintaining your posture in dance will strengthen your postural muscles in general. This will give you better posture all the time. I know one student who was told by his doctor that he was a centimetre taller than he was at the last check up (before he took dance lessons). This all came from his strengthened posture muscles.

You drink lessWhen you go out to dance, you have something to do. That means you no longer feel the need to drink as much. This phenomenon is well known. It was one of the reasons why disco became a line dance culture even though it started with partner dancing and almost became the next great wave of partner dancing in western culture. The bar owners noticed how much less people drank when they (partner) danced. This cut into profits, and action was taken to encourage line dancing.

You feel betterBecause of much of the above, you simply feel better in your self. Dance is an excellent way to boost your self esteem and sense of well-being.

And there it is - some of the unforeseen benefits of learning to dance. If you have any others, then please share them in the comments below. We're always keen to hear how dance helps people.

Many of us know we need to exercise to lose weight. However, to get right to the point, exercise sucks! We need something that is active, but fun. If you don’t like sport so much or feel that it might be hard on the joints, then you need to look elsewhere.

This leads many of us to consider dance as an avenue to weight loss.

But just how much energy does dancing burn?

The slower types of dance are a lot like walking when it comes to burning energy. The faster dances are a lot like jogging. That means an hour of dancing could be like going for a good walk or a reasonable jog. If you take a couple classes a week and then go out to dance as well, then you have a pretty good weekly work out.

However, that is just the energy burned at the time.

Dance will increase your strength by building muscles and tone. The act of building muscle also burns energy so you will get benefits even when you are not dancing as your body burns energy rebuilding itself.

It is about looking good no?

Most of us want to lose weight so we look better. Dance will improve your posture and your movement. That will mean that as well as losing weight, you will also look better because of the dancers posture you will now have.

But health is important.

Dance, by building muscle, providing cardio exercise and improving posture, will provide health benefits that will augment the benefits that come from losing weight. You can expect grater bone density, grater movement of joints and health from better poise. Dance is thus an ideal part of any weight loss program.

Just feeling better.

Weight loss, buy improving health and appearance, makes us feel better. If you are looking for that general sense of wellness, then dance is again ideal. The social nature of it, it’s opportunity to learn, the endorphins from the activity and its sense of fun, all combine to make dance an ideal hobby for those simply wanting to feel better. When you feel better, weight loss becomes easier too.

Based on the above, dance is indeed going to help with weight loss. Considering how dance is social and fun, it makes it more enticing than many other forms of exercise. So, you are much more likely to stick at dance than you are at the alternatives. However, dance also offers benefits beyond weight loss. Benefits that augment the effects of weight loss.​If you want to consider dance as a way of losing weight, then try a free trial lesson.